Sunnyheart's Trickery
'ON HOLD: ' This fanfic has been temporarily dropped by the author(s), so do not expect any further edits any time soon. Thank you. Information I've been working on this for about a month and now I'm finally going to go back on the wiki. The allegiances can be found (((here))) You may find the gallery (((here))) Prologue The sleek she-cat wound among the fighting cats, deftly dodging claws and teeth. She half-ran, half-stumbled up the slope of rocks, and then jumped up on the ledge jutting out from the stone hollow. She stared down at the turmoil below with a snarling smile playing on her lips. She took in every scar, every flash of claws, and every drop of blood. This is what she loved. This is what she craved for every day while she hunted, and every night while she trained in her dreams. The vicious she-cat glared at a tom in the fight, flanks torn and scratched. She nimbly leapt off the ledge and landed on the tom's back. She heard his spine crack. He stopped moving. He was dead. Smirking at her kill, she didn't notice another cat pounce on her shoulders. They struggled until the she-cat was on her back, gazing fearfully into the other tom's eyes. The tom whispered into her ear, "A whisker for a whisker, a claw for a claw, a leader for a leader. Be gone, and may your life go with you!" He bared his fangs and sank them into her throat. Her eyes glazed over. Her world went dark. She was drifting, drifting away... Chapter 1 - Introductions Badgerpool, a black-and-white she-cat, took her kits outside for the first time in the kits' lives. Her mate, Oatpelt, walked over from the fresh-kill pile with a skip in his step. Two of the kits immediately pounced on him, pummelling his cream fur with soft paws. Chuckling, Oatpelt gently shook them off and nuzzled Badgerpool's jawline in greeting. "Have you decided what to name them?" Oatpelt asked. His mate purred, "Yes," she scooped the frail black she-kit from the floor of dead grass, "this is Mintkit." The fluffy kit was staring around the camp with wide, pale green eyes. Oatpelt was about to answer when he winced in pain. A black-and-white tomkit was clinging to his tail by his teeth. Badgerpool giggled, "He's Magpiekit. And this little sweetie," she pointed, with her tail, at the ginger-and-cream she-kit standing obediently by the entrance of the nursery, yellow eyes gleaming with kittish curiosity, "is Sunnykit." Oatpelt sighed with happiness, "Their names, and the kits, are perfect." The two cats huddled together, purring, watching the tiny bundles play in the grass. Chapter 2 - Outside It was amazing, the world outside of the nursery. There was so much grass, and so many cats sharing tongues. The WindClan camp was beautiful with the yellow grass, shining in the bright sun, and the tiny orange leaves around the nursery. Two old she-cats, one tufty and black, and the other pale ginger, were watching the kits play in amusement. The black she-cat, Sunnykit noticed, seemed to be using her ears more than her eyes, which were gray. Sunnykit's frail sister, Mintkit, was shivering down in the cold, lifeless grass. Sunnykit was scared for her, as she was very weak. Magpiekit, on the other paw, was exceptionally strong, with a playful attitude to go with it. Sunnykit herself was, as some say, perfect. She never acted up, she always cared for her siblings, and she was absolutely sweet. Since Magpiekit and Mintkit were constantly getting into trouble, everyone had to rush forward to stop them fighting, or to stop them sneaking out of the nursery. Nobody seemed to pay much attention to Sunnykit because they all had to watch her littermates carefully so they don't cause any strife. Sunnykit always felt quite lonely because of that. At least Sparrowkit played with her. He was a dark brown tabby tomkit with a flat face and amber-brown eyes. He was Sunnykit's best friend. Since he was five moons older than she was, he would be leaving the nursery to become an apprentice in only half a moon. Sunnykit would be very sad when he did. At last, that day came. Sunnykit and her littermates - who were sitting by the gorse bush that was the nursery - watched Sparrowkit be groomed by his tortoiseshell-and-white mother, Specklewolf. Then they all heard the leader, Cloudstar, call out in her ringing voice, "Let all cats old enough to chase rabbits join here beneath the Tallrock for a Clan meeting." Sparriowkit, his tabby coat glistening, trotted forward meekly. Cloudstar looked at him steadily with sparkling amber eyes, and said, "Sparrowkit, from this day until you receive your warrior name, you will be Sparrowpaw. Turtlestripe, you will mentor Sparrowpaw. You have fought hard for WindClan, and I know that you'll make Sparrowpaw a hardworking fighter also." A dark brown tabby tom with green eyes stepped forward, out of the crown, and said, "I will teach him all I know." Sparrowpaw walked over to his new mentor and they touched noses. The whole clan yowled the newly-made apprentice's name, "Sparrowpaw! Sparrowpaw! Sparrowpaw!" Sunnykit bounced over to her friend, "Congrats Sparrowk- I mean, Sparrow''paw''!" Sparrowpaw purred, "Thanks, Sunnykit. I can't wait 'til you're made an apprentice!" "Neither can I," the ginger-and-cream kit mewed, "neither can I." Chapter 3 - The Dark Forest It was one night before Sunnykit was to become an apprentice. She was curled up next to her mother, trying to ignore Magpiekit's paw in her ear. Contrary to this, sleep came very quick. When she opened her eyes, Sunnykit found herself in a dark and drear forest. Shivering, she padded tentatively up to a tree, paws sinking in the swampy floor. The tree was smothered in damp mould, and there were multiple claw-marks in the bark. She heard a rustling above her, and a black, furry shape with sunken green eyes jumped out of the bushes behind her. "What brings a miniscule kits like you into our forest?" Sunnykit started trembling, "Are- aren't I dr- dreaming?" The black tom scoffed, "Not exactly. Try poking yourself with a claw and see what happens." When Sunnykit did so and yelped, the cat laughed a mirthless laugh. "Where exactly are we?" Sunnykit asked, massaging her now bleeding cheek, "And who are you? And how did I get here? And why- ?" the tom raised a paw for silence. "I can answer all of your questions," he chuckled, "one at a time. We are in the Dark Forest, a part of StarClan. I'm Blackfang. I was once a warrior of WindClan. You're visiting the Forest through your dreams. Sounds weird, but you don't have to think about that. And you ask why? Well, you're here to become a better warrior. And you can ask anything, and I'll help you. That's why I'm here. To help you be the best warrior you can be. And," he paused, "maybe you could even become leader once you're trained by me." Sunnykit stared up at Blackfang, amazed. She thought to herself, I could be leader! ''She smiling, and nodded. Blacfang was about to answer, when another cat, a brown tom, leapt out of the bushes and walked to Blackfang's side. Blackfang turned his head to the newcomer, "Ahhh! Hello Clawface! I was just telling this kit about training." Clawface glanced at Sunnykit and said, "Yeah, right. Listen Blackfang, we need you at the training area. You know how Darkstripe is with apprentices," his eye twitched. Only then did Sunnykit notice that he seemed to be transparent. "Oh, ok! I'll be right there." Blackfang answered, and then he turned back to Sunnykit, "I'll help you to go back to the waking world. It should be around dawn by now. I'll summon you back here after you're made an apprentice. Goodbye, for now." And Sunnykit woke up in her nest. Chapter 4 - Apprenticing Ceremony Sunnykit waited patiently as Badgerpool struggled to groom a squirming Magpiekit. Sunnykit hadn't told anyone about her visit to the Dark Forest. They probably wouldn't believe her anyway. He mother let go of Magpiekit and carefully licked Mintkit. After her grooming, the delicate black kit flopped hopelessly on the ground. Badgerpool nudged her to her paws and grabbed Sunnykit and licked her fur. She had barely finished cleaning her ears when Magpiekit pounced on her tail. Badgerpool snapped at him and they all suddenly heard a yowl from the clearing, "Let all cats old enough to chase rabbits join here beneath the Tallrock for a Clan meeting." ''Our apprenticing ceremony! ''Sunnykit thought to herself. Badgerpool glanced at Sunnykit in alarm and frantically rasped her tongue over her kit's ginger patches. Oatpelt came in and ushered his kits out to the cold clearing. Sunnykit looked up at Cloudstar, whose white fur was shining in the sunlight. The three kits padded up to the large rock, one black, white and pompous, one black, ginger and frail and one ginger, cream and graceful. Cloudstar continued, "Leaf-bare is coming and we need more warriors, but what good is a warrior without training? Applebee," a calico she-cat started at the sound of her name, "you will mentor Sunnypaw. Your claws are sharp and your mind is quick, and I want Sunnypaw to be the same." Remembering Sparrowpaw's ceremony, Sunnypaw walked to Applebee and touched noses. She turned back to he rlittermates, but her yellow eyes weren't looking at them. They were searching for Sparrowpaw, to see if he was at her special day. ''There! ''Standing between Redspeckle and Runningstream was the dark brown tom. He was smiling at Sunnypaw, whose stomach flipped over. "Rabbittooth, you will mentor Magpiepaw. It's been a long time since you've had an apprentice but I know you still have that fighting spirit in you." ''Rabbittooth? ''Sunnypaw thought, ''he's so old! '' Mintkit shakily glanced up at Cloudstar, who said, "Mintkit, is it your wish to train to be a medicine cat?" Mintkit blinked and mewed with surprising force, "It is." Sunnypaw gawped at her ginger-flecked sister, ''a medicine cat?! '' The white leader nodded, "Then Iciclesun will be your mentor." Mintpaw wobbled over to her ginger-and-white auntie. Cloudstar yowled in her silky voice, "That meeting is over." And with that, she jumped down from the rock and disappeared into her den. Just as the crowd was beginning to disperse, Sunnypaw felt a furry body brush against her. She darted her head to look at the cat who did it, but all she saw was a flash of black fur disappear into thin air. Blackfang had watched her ceremony. Chapter 5 - Relations and Herbs The three littermates found eachother, "Mintpaw, I didn't know you wanted to be a medicine cat!" Magpiepaw exclaimed. Mintkit scuffed her paws in the dirt, "Well, I'm not going to be much use as a warrior if I stay like this." She flopped on the ground. Sunnypaw purred, "I think it's great that you're a medicine cat apprentice!" Mintkit flushed, "Thank, but I'm not an apprentice yet. I have to go to the Moonpool first." Magpiepaw cleared his throat, "While you were almost-not-quite being made an apprentice, Rabbittooth told me that when I become a warrior, he's moving to the elder's den." Is he really?" Mintkit inquired, not sounding surprised at all. "Yeah, and his mate, Dawndew, is an elder, so... yeah." Dawndew and Rabbittooth were their grandparents. Sunnypaw realised something, "So, Magpiepaw, your mentor is Badgerpool's father, and Mintkit's mentor is her sister. I wonder if Applebee's related to us." "She is!" Magpiepaw piped up, "She's Noseblaze's mate, I found out. And Noseblaze is Badgerpool and Iciclesun's brother!" "Oh, cool!" Mintkit said, "They're all related!" As if the littermates' conversation called them, their three mentors padded over side-by-side and, indeed, they seemed to be really close, especially Iciclesun and Rabbittooth, whose pelts were touching. Applebee was listening to the discussion they were having, dropping in comments every now and again, but walking a little distance away. The cats stopped talking when they reached their apprentices. Iciclesun was the first to speak, "Mintkit, I need to take you to the Moonpool tonight to get your apprentice name, but first I want to teach you a few things - and oh, what a coincidence!" a hunting patrol just walked into the camp, and one of the cats was holding up a paw. "What happened Dogfang?" the medicine cat mewed in concern. The injured cat, a black tom with russet ventral areas, said, "It's nothing, just scraped my paw on a rock." He tried to place his paw on the ground but winced as he stood on a sharp blade of grass. Iciclesun turned to Mintkit, "I'll get the herbs. You lick his pad to clean it." Mintkit nodded. When Dogfang and his patrol looked confused, she said, "She's my new apprentice, or she will be at sundown." She bustled away to the medicine cat den for herbs. Dogfang relaxed at Mintkit tentatively licked his pad. Applebee and Rabbittooth glanced at eachother and headed back towards Tallrock. The patrol followed them. Soon, Iciclesun returned with a leaf wrap in her jaws. She dropped it on the ground and opened it. Inside was a pretty orange flower and a fernlike frond of small leaves, "Mintkit, this," she held up the flower in her paws, "is marigold. It stops bleeding and infections. It's also used for stiff joints." With that, she chewed it in her mouth, spat the pulp out onto her paw and hopped on three legs over to Dogfang. She slopped it on his scrape and massaged it in. Dogfang flinched. Iciclesun gently wiped it off and mewed to Mintkit, "Pass me that yarrow. Those're the leaves." Mintkit did so quick-smart. Iciclesun did the same as she did with the marigold. As she was massaging the poultice into Dogfang's pad, she explained, "Yarrow's used for cracked pads, and extracting swallowed poisons." "How does that work?" Mintkit asked, really interested now. "If a cat eats a poison, they will swallow this poultice, which will make the cat vomit up the poison." She finished patting her patient's paw. Dogfang nodded to Iciclesun, "Thanks. I guess it kind of hurt, a bit." The ginger-and-white she-cat purred, "It's my job." Dogfang flicked her flank with his tail as he ran past to the fresh-kill pile. Mintkit was gaping at Iciclesun, "Wow! So it's healed just like that?" Iciclesun purred again, "Come on. I'm going to show you a few more herbs before we leave for the Moonpool." The two cats walked side-by-side towards the medicine den. Chapter 6 - The Other Apprentices ''to be continued my preciouses Category:Fanfiction